Thinking big with business transformation

Six keys to unlocking breakthrough value.

Business transformation initiatives require business leaders to rethink how the enterprise creates value today – and in the future. Sometimes, incremental improvements are not enough to win in today’s exponentially disrupted business environment. Enterprises have to think big – and bold. Thinking big can help organisations unlock the value of transformation, unlock hidden opportunities, and generate new value.

Bigger, bolder moves

At its heart, business transformation is the opportunity to set a bold ambition that goes beyond incremental change – the opportunity to rethink your business and operating models to deliver breakthrough value. It involves strategic decisions that affect how the organisation will operate and grow, and what kinds of performance improvements you can expect.

Understanding transformation’s strategic keys

Successful transformation requires an integrated approach that links business strategy to transformation ambition, and transformation ambition to executional discipline.

Deloitte’s Business Transformation practice identified six keys to transformation success based on hundreds of engagements with some of the world’s leading companies. We’ve seen firsthand how these strategic keys can help unlock value that’s both revolutionary and evolutionary.

• Begin with a strategy-informed ambition: Translate strategic goals into a bold yet realistic transformation ambition.

• Lead with capabilities: Build the discipline needed to establish a new trajectory that helps keep pace with disruption.

• Drive to value: Take time to be explicit about exactly how you intend to create value.

• Build in sustainability: Foster an adaptive organisation that embraces new ways of delivering value.

• Be agile and flexible: Implement an agile approach that delivers quick wins and iterative progress. • Invest in program talent: Keep leaders connected strongly to focused roles in order to help retain top talent during the transformation.

Avoiding business transformation pitfalls

An effective business transformation means your organisation can survive and thrive as you pursue new innovation-driven opportunities. But transformation today takes place at a dizzying pace. And it requires a level of integration and alignment that many enterprises are not prepared to handle. Some initiatives that once took five or six years to complete are now being implemented in a year or less. Because of this, many organisations are tasked with managing mountains of information, compressed timeframes, and countless decisions. Avoiding the risks of failure is critical. Companies able to pull the disparate elements into alignment can achieve bold objectives, now and into the future.

“At its heart, business transformation is the opportunity to set a bold ambition that goes beyond incremental change – the opportunity to rethink your business and operating models to deliver breakthrough value. It involves strategic decisions that affect how the organisation will operate and grow, and what kinds of performance improvements you can expect.”

Own the disruption

To get ahead of disruption, leaders have to anticipate and own it – with the agility and discipline that will help them differentiate and stay ahead. Without clear vision and strategy to shape the execution, business transformation initiatives can falter at even the most high-performing companies.

The six keys to unlocking transformation value can help keep that from happening and are essential for delivering the value you are targeting through transformation.